Twe Kee Chicken Rice: Mom and Pop still doing it the traditional way.
With ieatjr
Tucked in a small corner coffeeshop in the East Coast is an elderly couple who are still making chicken rice the same way they have been for 30 years. If you have ever wondered what chicken rice tasted like in the old days, you better get here quick, cos these good old mom and pop shops are getting rarer nowadays.
So just what makes a particular chicken rice "retro" and what makes it "modern"? Well, for one thing, the traditional way of preparing the rice is to fry the grains in garlic and ginger first before boiling the rice in chicken broth. Not many people do it nowadays and certainly the large chains will not be able to do it because of the volume of rice they have to dish out. So the only place to find such rice is either at home if you are fortunate enough to have a Hainanese Grandma OR you have to look for other people's Hainanese Grandma to cook it for you. In case you do not have Hainanese friends or if your Hainanese friends are sort of half Hainanese, quarter Teochew and quarter Cantonese, then can I suggest that you come to this stall where you can find a purebred Hainanese couple.
Another thing that makes this a "retro" chicken rice is the way they cook their chicken. Traditionally, Hainanese do not soak the chicken in cold water after cooking. Trust me, I know. I have a Hainanese MIL who has refused to soak the chicken in cold water for the 20 years that I have known her. Now, soaking the chicken in cold water quickly stops the cooking process which results in nice crunchy skin but at the expense of losing all that nice chickeny juices. If you don't soak the chicken then it takes a lot more skill and experience in order to get the timing just right so that the chicken flesh is still tender.
Now, for those who like chicken with a strong chicken taste, this one is just right for you. The flesh is still amazingly tender but of course the skin is not as crunchy as if it was soaked in ice water. I am sort of quite undecided whether this is the one for me but I know that the traditionalists will love it. 4/5
As I mentioned before, this is one of the few places where they fry the grains first before cooking the rice. They also make a point of not adding the chicken oil into the rice so the rice is not so oily. I am sort of wishing they would as I think it would have made the rice even more shiok! 4.25/5
Conclusion
I must make it a point to find and blog a few more of these mom and pop shops before they all disappear!
Twe Kee Hainanese Chicken Rice
Coffeeshop at the jn of Jago close
Open 6.30am to 4pm
Closed Tuesday
Recommended and gently persuaded to blog this place by Cactuskit and supported by Smart in the forum
You can read their comments here
Where to go next?
Another place you can find traditional "non-soaked" chicken is Yet Con
The other place that still fries the grains first is Thien Kee
Read about other chicken rice stalls by clicking the "Chicken Rice" label - 21 stalls blogged and counting!
Join the Forum and see where our forummers are eating chicken rice! Click Here
Have a read of the other mom and pop shops!.jpg)
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29 comments:
remember to try the one i told you about also run by an old man and old lady.. at golden shoe hawker centre...
3rd floor, next to corner economical rice stall coming from stair case nearest UOB tower 2...
Yeah, I remember, but in town always more difficult for me. This one near home.
eh.... distance is never a hurdle for any true foodie right...??
just kidding.
anyway if u go after 2, the chicken rice is usually sold out...
the best time to go is usually 11 plus.. they are so popular, or maybe because they dont have a high production rate and just sell a certain limited number of chickens, that the drumsticks are usually sold out before 12.30pm...
thats my experience with them..
Oh great! this is the popular KATONG Chicken Rice that used to be at JOO CHIAT CORNER when I was a kid! My family loves it and we were there every Sunday until we went overseas.
Now...they have shifted to Jago Close. Is that still in Katong?
Yes it surely is. Quite close to Holy Family church.
Thanks for the confirmation ieat.
It's just amazing...
I shall visit on my next trip back.
You must be an avid food lover with such a comprehensive blog w pictures. Have ya ever tried whipping out the dishes yourself?
Love chicken rice but smarter always veto me. Now thanks to Catus I can have more chicken rice from this Ah Kor. Smarter love it too and approved it as it is not too fat/oily.
This couple used to be beside Sin Hoi Sai but they made a good move to relocate to Jago. Sell cheok in the morning and hir seh (raw fish).
Usually bring the altar servers there for lunch on special occasions, whallop their row of chickens, charsiew and sio bak. Very nice lah both of them...
P.S: There is a new BCM stall just beside. Former Upp East Coast. Quite a mean bowl of noodles, very liberal with chilli (normal pple cannot tahan, but I am not complaining cus it has more kick) - soup is sweet and can fight with 'lau lim'
Twe Kee goes a long way. I've lived in this area almost 40 years minus a few years. Been eating at their stall since kindergarten days when they were located at the Joo Chiat Rd/ East Coast Rd junction.
I think uncle's sis was my dad's student (dad was a teacher in TKGS) so we always got some extras from uncle and his mom (real master in porridge. She did them previously. Now uncle's wife doing it). Taste exactly the same as it did all these years.
Really nice and humble folks. Go support them. : )
We walked thru this coffee shop weekly and never noticed the humble shop tucked away inside.o_O
Thanks to your write up, we went, we ate, we tasted, we gave thumbs up. I liked the fibrous chicken with lots of bite rather than smooth melt in your mouth chicken. =P
Reminds me of the old style kampung chicken rice back home. Yum! =)
By the way, the Sarawak Laksa stall is great. But its a love or hate relationship. It's very different from your S'pore Laksa or Penang Laksa or Curry Laksa. Go try it at least once.
From a true blue Sarawakian. =)
Ngap Sayot!
tried the roast chicken today after uncle smart and cactuskit escorted me there...can't fault the rice, chicken and chilli :)
Been wanting to try this CR since reading about it and finally manage to for lunch with a friend. We tried the chicken and some raw fish. Chicken was lean and reminded me of kampong chicken. Fact is the chicken was tastier than the rice which we felt needed more chicken rice flavour and fragrance. It was a little dry. Uncle was friendly and was kind enough to give us a little dish of chicken liver free of charge. Nice to have ginger available as I like to add it to the garlic chilli and the bowl of soup.
Just come to realisation that this famous stall TWE Kee is in the same coffee shop as I always patronise for roti prata and fried carrot cake right? Not until Christopher mentioned about Sarawak Laksa. How come I never know it exists?
By the way the Sarawak Laksa is soso compared to those that I have tasted. The one stall at Bedok behind the library is missing in action after they shifted to dont know where.
Cactus,
I agree the forum is interesting.. How come I still looking on how to post comments? Must give introduction first or not?
I feel the same too about the Sarawak laksa. Very heavy curry powder taste. But maybe that how it is done. Not sure.
Welcome to the forum! Just click on reply button if you want to post a comment. If it is an earlier comment you want to reply to, just click on quote. It'll be nice if you give an intro. : )
I'll throw you a makan party, ha ha! ; )
Jencooks, now Catuskit dating you. I give up.
Halow uncle smart. Its my job as a moderator to invite people to our dynamic forum. Dun use me as a cover ok? ; )
Uncle Smart and Cactus,
All things being equal, I will date both of you at one go;
Find a new place or I dont mind Yong Li. I tried Twe Kee this morning already cos it's a place I know. I now have extended my stomach, cos I must always order the Stall 1/roti prata, Stall 2/Carrot Cake and now Stall 4/ Twe Kee. Yes Twe Kee is nice but I find the rice a bit dry. Not bad, met a couple who joined my table and who talks about food too...
By the way, the carrot cake at Bedok interchange is Stall2's cousin.
both uncle smart & cactuskit r happily married to their spouse..
Khim,
Mee too.
Hahhahah. Date for good food amongst foodies always welcomed. Last Saturday, we had a group date of 13 of us at Cafe Oliv. What a meal that was... :)
you can say that again cactuskit!...a sampling of 20 dishes!
Jencooks, Yes the rice is a bit dry because it is not oily. Others add the chcicken fats n chicken cube (knorr swiss)but Twe Kee use garlic, shallot and other secret ingredients.
Like Catuskit said we 'love' to makan with ieaters & foodies.This Wednesday smarter will join me too.
Smartie,
Every Wed I have to burn calories at ECP aiming for my 10km run come Oct (dont know can or not with new ieat food recommendation haha); just had to much with the
3rd stall makan this morning and this evening was another big session of food.
How often and how far do you run jencooks?
The old couple are taking a break this Friday 19Sept till 22Sept Monday.
Thanks smart for the info.
How often and how far do you run jencooks?
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